As Gov. Hochul weighs removing Mayor Adams, Lt. Gov. Delgado says he 'speaks for New Yorkers'

New York Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado has declared his independence from Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The lieutenant governor on Thursday became the highest-ranking state official to call for New York City Mayor Eric Adams to step down as officials throughout government publicly pondered Adams’ fate — and whether Hochul should remove the mayor from office.

“I speak for New Yorkers. That's how I orient myself: as an independently elected individual,” Delgado said at the State Capitol. " I serve with the governor. But I don't serve at the pleasure of the governor, right? I am my own person. I have my own voice.”

Delgado’s remarks were the clearest articulation yet of his distance from Hochul, who has called the latest developments in Adams’ federal corruption case “extremely concerning and serious” but hasn’t yet sought the mayor’s resignation. Hochul is meeting with prominent political leaders on Tuesday to discuss whether Adams can continue to do his job after four of his top aides on Monday said they would leave City Hall.

Hochul spokesperson Anthony Hogrebe said Friday that while the governor is reviewing Adams’ situation, “Lt. Gov. Delgado does not now and has not ever spoken on behalf of this administration.”

The exchange marks a sharp break for two officials who became allies and running mates in 2022 after Hochul plucked Delgado from the U.S. House of Representatives and appointed him to his current position. It also comes as some Democrats question whether Hochul is the strongest candidate to lead the party’s ticket in 2026.

Delgado declined to answer questions about his future and whether he would challenge Hochul for her job.

“Our relationship is fine,” he said, adding that he had not communicated with the governor before calling on Adams to resign, or in the hours after.

Adams, a Democrat, has been the center of a political storm that intensified last week, when top officials at the U.S. Department of Justice directed federal prosecutors in Manhattan to drop their corruption case against him. Acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon resigned rather than comply with the directive. In a letter, she said prosecutors were preparing additional charges against Adams. Sassoon also said the mayor’s lawyers suggested a “quid pro quo” in which he would help the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts if his case were dismissed.

Adams insists he never offered to trade his mayoral authority for an end to his case, and pleaded not guilty in September.

Delgado grew up in Schenectady and was a Rhodes scholar before embarking on a career in corporate law. In 2018, he won a seat in Congress and represented the Hudson Valley until Hochul tapped him to replace Brian Benjamin, her first lieutenant governor, who resigned amid his own corruption scandal. (Benjamin’s charges were dropped last month.)

The job of lieutenant governor is not well-defined, but people are usually drafted to the position to support and promote the agenda of the governor, according to Bob Duffy, who served in the post for four years under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“ He was the governor, so I always saw it as a supporting role,” Duffy said. “Public disagreement or back and forth — I don't think it's a good look.”

While Duffy never stepped out of line, friction between ticketmates is not new. Former Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey clashed with then-Gov. George Pataki during the 1990s and ended up switching parties to run against him.

She said Delgado was within his rights to comment publicly on Adams.

“ Delgado was right to speak out on an issue of such importance to the public,” McCaughey said. “ The role of the lieutenant governor is to serve the public.”

This is the second time in a year that Delgado has bucked Hochul on a public demand for a fellow Democrat to step down. In July, Delgado called for Joe Biden to end his presidential campaign while Hochul said she still supported the incumbent.

It is unclear whether Delgado’s statement will have any influence over the course of events with Adams. Duffy said he is skeptical.

“Having been a lieutenant governor in my career,” he said, “I would often say, nobody cares what the lieutenant governor thinks.”